Syria crisis: Leon Panetta talks of risks for U.S.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Wednesday it would be a “mistake” for the United States military to take unilateral action in Syria to stop President Bashar Assad’s bloody crackdown — but promised “one way or another, this regime will meet its end.”

Panetta, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee with Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, said the violence in Syria has “become increasingly dire and outrageous,” but that the administration is not looking to use military force at this time.

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“Although we will not rule out any future course of action, currently the administration is focusing on diplomatic and political approaches rather than military intervention,” Panetta said.

Sen. John McCain, the panel’s top Republican, pressed Panetta to give a point when the administration would consider using the military option, asking “How many more have to die? 10,000 more? 20,000 more? How many more?”

Panetta reiterated that building an international consensus is currently the most effective course of action, and “what doesn’t make sense is to take unilateral at this point.”

McCain pushed back, telling Panetta that in the past, “America has led. Yes, it has been multilateral and multinational, this is absolutely vital. We’re not leading, Mr. Secretary.”

Later on, Panetta noted that the U.S. is “not divided and we are not holding back.”

“When we do it, we’ll do it right. We will not do it in a way that will make the situation worse,” Panetta said.

Both Panetta and Dempsey emphasized the need to work with international partners on the Syrian situation. Unilaterally launching airstrikes against Assad’s regime would be a “mistake,” Panetta said. McCain has called for U.S. led airstrikes with involvement from key Arab partners and European Union and NATO allies.

“This situation demands an international response, and for that reason the United States has been leading efforts within the international community to pressure Assad to stop his violence against the Syrian people and to step aside,” Panetta said. “Unfortunately, this terrible situation has no simple answers, so the result is a great deal of anger and frustration that we all share.”

The best answer at the moment, the Pentagon chief said, is to isolate Assad’s regime diplomatically and politically — but Panetta said he would not take the military option off the table and noted that the administration is continuing to evaluate the situation and will “adjust our approach as necessary.”

Dempsey reviewed several possible military options with the panel, while emphasizing the importance of working with the international community in any future capacity.

“We always provide a better and more enduring outcome when we work with partners, especially in that part of the world,” Dempsey told the panel. “The ability to do a single, raid like strike would be accessible to us. The ability to do a longer-term sustained campaign would be challenging and would have to be made in the context of other commitments around the globe.”

Syria has a biological and chemical weapons stockpile that is 100 times larger than in Libya, Dempsey noted, and the country has more effective air defenses than Libya did.

“We also need to be alert to extremists, who may return to well-trod ratlines running through Damascus, and other hostile actors, including Iran, which has been exploiting the situation and expanding its support to the regime,” Dempsey said. “And we need to be especially alert to the fate of Syria’s chemical and biological weapons. They need to stay exactly where they are.”

Clarification: An earlier version of this story stated that McCain favored unilateral U.S. airstrikes; he backs U.S. airstrikes only in conjunction with American allies.

We should stay OUT of Syria period ! Let the other arab countries deal with the goings on in Syria. If we arm the groups fighting Assad chances are damn good there are Islamic Terrorists in those groups. Who if they take over Syria may be just as bad if not worse then Assad AND will turn on us later as well. Syria is of no use or value to the USA let them kill eachother !

You guys sound even more ridiculous than the Congressional twerps on both sides of the aisle at this hearing. Panetta was really great. He has a ton of successful experience as a Congressman, headed the CIA when we took down bin Laden, and now very ably serves as Secretary of Defense. General Dempsey was great, too.

Another good hearing today was with FEMA director, Craig Fugate. Very smart, very professional, and very pragmatic. Nobody even hints at arguing with him. Most interesting point he made was about how important it is that all work together: state. local, and federal. His premise is that when they don't, not only is relief inefficient, but it also creates a vacuum that allows an opening for terrorists. Something to ponder.

As to President Obama, Admiral McRaven, commander of special forces, was also at a hearing recently (I saw it today). He worked closely with President Obama while formulating contingency plans for the bin Laden raid (President Obama chose which one to go with). His take on President Obama:

" He was really everything the American public would expect from their national leadership. I would contend he was the smartest guy in the room. He had leadership skills we'd expect from a guy who had 35 years in the military."

I'd take Admiral McRaven's opinion of our very competent president any day over any of the made up stuff that you guys spew.

Fortunately, Obama is looking into the Syrian situation carefully at this point. Syria has thousands of biological and chemical weapons. That requires special strategy in a US-Turkey-Israel alliance, even ahead of the Iran threat.

For that, Obama should be commended - obviously American interests are seriously threatened - as well as the whole world, if bilogical and chemical weapons get into the air.

McCain/Lieberman are Israel Lobby warmongers who love wasting American blood and money to bomb enemies of Israeli expansionism, as in Libya which has turned into a mess. Destabilization is what these Israel Firsters want so they can continue settlement expansion.

McCain has said domestic spending is generational theft but he's happy to borrow for all these wars. He wishes he were still bombing in Vietnam. His VP choice was all for war with Russia over the conflict Georgia started. Hey, McCain, we haven't paid for the Iraq War yet. The greatest threat to our national security is our debt.

The Israel Lobby-dominated media and politicians lied us into the Iraq invasion which resulted in the entrance of Al Qaeda iwhich wasn't there before. Now the same is happening in Syria. The Israel-Firsters love chaos and destabilization of the countries which oppose Israel's illegal occupations: Kissinger famously said regarding the Iraq-Iran War which we helped Saddam to start that it was too bad both sides couldn't lose. A million died for nothing.

Netanyahu et al hate diplomacy but just as the Cold War ended peacefully, so should the situations in Syria and Iran.